Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim(s) 1 - 5 were canceled.
Claim(s) 6 - 7 is pending for examination.
This Action is made FINAL.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to the previous rejection of claims 6-7 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been considered but are deemed moot in view of the new grounds of rejection necessitated by Applicant's Amendment.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Weaver et al. (US 20080046145 A1, hereinafter known as Weaver) in view of Aoki (US 20140005894 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Weaver teaches A vehicle control apparatus comprising a controller configured to:
obtain information on an object present around a host vehicle;
obtain, based on said information, a predicted time to collision for said host vehicle to collide with said object;
{Para [0008] “The diagram of FIG. 1 depicts a host vehicle 10 and a target vehicle or other obstacle in the forward path of the host vehicle 10. The host vehicle 10 is equipped with a system including a radar ranging sensor 14 for carrying out the collision prediction and mitigation method of the present invention. The host vehicle 10 is moving in the direction of the target vehicle 12, which may be moving or stationary. The ranging sensor 14, which may also be used for other vehicular applications such as adaptive cruise control, provides three parameters of interest: range R, range-rate RR, and lateral offset distance LOD. The range and lateral offset distance parameters R and LOD are designated in the illustration of FIG. 1; the range-rate parameter RR is the closing velocity, or the velocity of the host vehicle 10 relative to that of the target vehicle 12. In addition to the ranging sensor 14, the host vehicle 10 is equipped with a vehicle speed sensor and a turning sensor such as a steering wheel angle sensor or a yaw rate sensor.”
Para [0014] “The flow diagram of FIGS. 3A-3C illustrates the method of this invention in the manner of a high level routine periodically executed by a microprocessor-based controller aboard host vehicle 10. Following initialization of various parameters and control variables at block 40 of FIG. 3A, the block 42 is executed to calculate the time-to-collision TTC according to the quotient R/RR. The block 44 defines a set of three enabling conditions for automatic collision mitigation braking, and the block 46 disables automatic braking if one or more of the conditions are not met. First, the vehicle speed VS must exceed a calibrated minimum speed such as 8 MPH; second, the range-rate RR (i.e., the closing speed) must be less than a calibrated speed such as 5 MPH; and third, the time-to-collision TTC must be less than a calibrated maximum time such as one minute. If block 46 disables automatic braking, the blocks 42-44 are re-executed after some dwell period. If the enabling conditions of block 44 are met, the block 48 estimates the lateral acceleration LAT_ACC of the host vehicle 10. As indicated above, LAT_ACC can be estimated based on the measured steering angle SA, in combination with known dynamic characteristics of the host vehicle 10. Alternately, LAT_ACC can be estimated based on a measure of yaw rate, although yaw rate measurements tend to lag rather than lead lateral acceleration of the host vehicle 10 due to steering.”
}
set a lateral acceleration for trajectory calculation to a value
{Para [0011] “The block diagram of FIG. 2 is a simplified representation of the collision prediction and mitigation method carried out by the host vehicle 10 according to this invention. The R and RR parameters provided by ranging sensor 14 are supplied to block 16, which calculates time-to-collision TTC according to the quotient R/RR. The LOD parameter, the vehicle speed VS and a lateral acceleration parameter LAT_ACC are supplied to block 18, which calculates the time-to-turn TTT. This is achieved by using VS, LAT_ACC and the road coefficient of friction COF to calculate the turning radius R, computing the length of the curved travel path required to negotiate the lateral offset distance LOD, and using the computed travel path length and the range-rate parameter RR to compute the time-to-turn TTT. Finally, the vehicle speed VS is supplied to block 20, which computes the time-to-brake TTB.”
}
when there is a right space into which said host vehicle can enter in a case where said host vehicle is steered rightward to avoid a collision between said host vehicle and said object and there is a left space into which said host vehicle can enter in a case where said host vehicle is steered leftward to avoid said collision,
{Fig. 1 where both the left and right of vehicle 12 appear clear
}
calculate, based on said lateral acceleration for trajectory calculation, a steering start time threshold for a right turn, said steering start time threshold for a right turn being a time for said host vehicle to collide with said object at a time point at which a driver of said host vehicle has to start steering said host vehicle rightward in order to avoid a collision between said host vehicle and said object;
{ Para [0011] “The block diagram of FIG. 2 is a simplified representation of the collision prediction and mitigation method carried out by the host vehicle 10 according to this invention. The R and RR parameters provided by ranging sensor 14 are supplied to block 16, which calculates time-to-collision TTC according to the quotient R/RR. The LOD parameter, the vehicle speed VS and a lateral acceleration parameter LAT_ACC are supplied to block 18, which calculates the time-to-turn TTT. This is achieved by using VS, LAT_ACC and the road coefficient of friction COF to calculate the turning radius R, computing the length of the curved travel path required to negotiate the lateral offset distance LOD, and using the computed travel path length and the range-rate parameter RR to compute the time-to-turn TTT. Finally, the vehicle speed VS is supplied to block 20, which computes the time-to-brake TTB.”
Its implied TTT can be calculated for either a right or left turn
}
Or calculate, based on said lateral acceleration for trajectory calculation, a steering start time threshold for a left turn, said steering start time threshold for a left turn being a time for said host vehicle to collide with said object at a time point at which said driver of said host vehicle has to start steering said host vehicle leftward in order to avoid said collision between said host vehicle and said object;
{ Para [0011] “The block diagram of FIG. 2 is a simplified representation of the collision prediction and mitigation method carried out by the host vehicle 10 according to this invention. The R and RR parameters provided by ranging sensor 14 are supplied to block 16, which calculates time-to-collision TTC according to the quotient R/RR. The LOD parameter, the vehicle speed VS and a lateral acceleration parameter LAT_ACC are supplied to block 18, which calculates the time-to-turn TTT. This is achieved by using VS, LAT_ACC and the road coefficient of friction COF to calculate the turning radius R, computing the length of the curved travel path required to negotiate the lateral offset distance LOD, and using the computed travel path length and the range-rate parameter RR to compute the time-to-turn TTT. Finally, the vehicle speed VS is supplied to block 20, which computes the time-to-brake TTB.”
Its implied TTT can be calculated for either a right or left turn
}
start automatic braking, when said obtained predicted time to collision becomes equal to or shorter than a minimum threshold among an automatic braking start time threshold, said steering start time threshold for a right turnor said steering start time threshold for a left turn, said automatic braking start time threshold being a time for said host vehicle to collide with said object at a time point at which said automatic braking has to be started in order to avoid said collision between said host vehicle and said object;
{ Para [0019] “Block 64 compares the computed values of time-to-turn TTT and time-to-brake TTB. If TTT is less than TTB, a turning solution is selected, and the blocks 66-74 of FIG. 3B are executed to determine if automatic braking should be initiated based on a comparison of TTT with the time-to-collision TTC. If TTT is equal to or greater than TTB, a braking solution is selected, and the blocks 76-84 of FIG. 3C are executed to determine if automatic braking should be initiated based on a comparison of TTB with the time-to-collision TTC.”
Para [0021] “If a braking solution is selected (i.e., TTT>=TTB), block 76 is first executed to determine if the time-to-brake TTB is equal to or greater than the time-to-collision TTC. If so, the impending collision is unavoidable, and the block 78 is executed to initiate automatic braking and deployment or arming of the supplemental restraint devices in host vehicle 10. If TTB<TTC, the impending collision is deemed to be avoidable by braking. However, the block 80 is executed to compare the sum (TTB+PCDT) to TTC, where TCDT is the aforementioned pre-charge delay time associated with the pre-charge stage of braking. If the sum (TTB+PCDT) is less than TTC, the existence of the pre-charge delay will not make the collision unavoidable, and block 82 is executed to release automatic braking if already initiated. However, if the sum (TTB+PCDT) is equal to or greater than TTC, the braking delay due to the pre-charge stage will make the collision unavoidable, and block 84 is executed to pre-charge the brakes to optimize collision mitigation due to braking, as well as to deploy or arm supplemental restraint devices in host vehicle 10.”
Fig. 3A Label 64, Fig. 3B Label 76 and 78
Para [0010] “In general, the driver of the host vehicle 10 can avoid an impending collision with the target vehicle 12 by steering to change the heading of host vehicle 10 and/or by braking the host vehicle. The turning sensor and the LOD parameter provided by the ranging sensor 14 allow the host vehicle 10 to determine if the collision can be avoided by steering. This is achieved by computing the time-to-turn, or TTT, and comparing it to TTC. Similarly, the speed VS and the known braking characteristics of the host vehicle 10 allow the host vehicle 10 to determine if the collision can be avoided by braking. This is achieved by computing the time-to-brake, or TTB, and comparing it to TTC.”
Its implied TTT can be calculated for either a right or left turn
}
calculate, based on said lateral acceleration for trajectory calculation, said steering start time threshold for a right turn;
start automatic braking, when said obtained predicted time to collision becomes equal to or shorter than a shorter one of said steering start time threshold for a right turn and said automatic braking start time threshold;
Para [0011] “The block diagram of FIG. 2 is a simplified representation of the collision prediction and mitigation method carried out by the host vehicle 10 according to this invention. The R and RR parameters provided by ranging sensor 14 are supplied to block 16, which calculates time-to-collision TTC according to the quotient R/RR. The LOD parameter, the vehicle speed VS and a lateral acceleration parameter LAT_ACC are supplied to block 18, which calculates the time-to-turn TTT. This is achieved by using VS, LAT_ACC and the road coefficient of friction COF to calculate the turning radius R, computing the length of the curved travel path required to negotiate the lateral offset distance LOD, and using the computed travel path length and the range-rate parameter RR to compute the time-to-turn TTT. Finally, the vehicle speed VS is supplied to block 20, which computes the time-to-brake TTB.”
Its implied TTT can be calculated for either a right or left turn
Para [0010] “In general, the driver of the host vehicle 10 can avoid an impending collision with the target vehicle 12 by steering to change the heading of host vehicle 10 and/or by braking the host vehicle. The turning sensor and the LOD parameter provided by the ranging sensor 14 allow the host vehicle 10 to determine if the collision can be avoided by steering. This is achieved by computing the time-to-turn, or TTT, and comparing it to TTC. Similarly, the speed VS and the known braking characteristics of the host vehicle 10 allow the host vehicle 10 to determine if the collision can be avoided by braking. This is achieved by computing the time-to-brake, or TTB, and comparing it to TTC.”
Its implied TTT can be calculated for either a right or left turn
}
calculate, based on said lateral acceleration for trajectory calculation, said steering start time threshold for a left turn;
start automatic braking, when said obtained predicted time to collision becomes equal to or shorter than a shorter one of said steering start time threshold for a left turn and said automatic braking start time threshold; and
{ Para [0011] “The block diagram of FIG. 2 is a simplified representation of the collision prediction and mitigation method carried out by the host vehicle 10 according to this invention. The R and RR parameters provided by ranging sensor 14 are supplied to block 16, which calculates time-to-collision TTC according to the quotient R/RR. The LOD parameter, the vehicle speed VS and a lateral acceleration parameter LAT_ACC are supplied to block 18, which calculates the time-to-turn TTT. This is achieved by using VS, LAT_ACC and the road coefficient of friction COF to calculate the turning radius R, computing the length of the curved travel path required to negotiate the lateral offset distance LOD, and using the computed travel path length and the range-rate parameter RR to compute the time-to-turn TTT. Finally, the vehicle speed VS is supplied to block 20, which computes the time-to-brake TTB.”
Its implied TTT can be calculated for either a right or left turn
Para [0010] “In general, the driver of the host vehicle 10 can avoid an impending collision with the target vehicle 12 by steering to change the heading of host vehicle 10 and/or by braking the host vehicle. The turning sensor and the LOD parameter provided by the ranging sensor 14 allow the host vehicle 10 to determine if the collision can be avoided by steering. This is achieved by computing the time-to-turn, or TTT, and comparing it to TTC. Similarly, the speed VS and the known braking characteristics of the host vehicle 10 allow the host vehicle 10 to determine if the collision can be avoided by braking. This is achieved by computing the time-to-brake, or TTB, and comparing it to TTC.”
}
start automatic braking, when said obtained predicted time to collision becomes equal to or shorter than said automatic braking start time threshold.
{ Para [0010] “In general, the driver of the host vehicle 10 can avoid an impending collision with the target vehicle 12 by steering to change the heading of host vehicle 10 and/or by braking the host vehicle. The turning sensor and the LOD parameter provided by the ranging sensor 14 allow the host vehicle 10 to determine if the collision can be avoided by steering. This is achieved by computing the time-to-turn, or TTT, and comparing it to TTC. Similarly, the speed VS and the known braking characteristics of the host vehicle 10 allow the host vehicle 10 to determine if the collision can be avoided by braking. This is achieved by computing the time-to-brake, or TTB, and comparing it to TTC.”
}
Weaver does not teach, set a lateral acceleration for trajectory calculation to a value that is smaller when a speed of said host vehicle is higher than a predetermined speed than when said speed of said host vehicle is lower than said predetermined speed;
However, Aoki teaches set a lateral acceleration for trajectory calculation to a value that is smaller when a speed of said host vehicle is higher than a predetermined speed than when said speed of said host vehicle is lower than said predetermined speed;
{Para [0017] “So long as the vehicle is a normal operation state, large lateral acceleration is rarely generated when the vehicle speed is high. In view of this, in the present invention, when the vehicle speed is high, the at least one of the upper and lower limits of the delayed lateral acceleration is set to a smaller value as compared with the case where the vehicle speed is low. Thus, in actual use, slippage of the vehicle can be suppressed effectively.”
}
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Weaver to incorporate the teachings of Aoki to decrease lateral acceleration when speed is higher because it reduces vehicle slippage as discussed in para [0017] of Aoki
Weaver in view of Aoki does not teach, calculating a time to turn time for both the right and left side and start automatic braking, when said obtained predicted time to collision becomes equal to or shorter than a minimum threshold among an automatic braking start time threshold, said steering start time threshold for a right turn, and said steering start time threshold for a left turn
Official notice teaches calculating a time to turn time for both the right and left side and start automatic braking, when said obtained predicted time to collision becomes equal to or shorter than a minimum threshold among an automatic braking start time threshold, said steering start time threshold for a right turn, and said steering start time threshold for a left turn. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to calculate both the left and right time to turn times as it is merely a matter of copying already used code. It is already implied that Weaver is using the shorter time to turn time of the left and right turns when determining when to calculate automatic braking para [0010] “The turning sensor and the LOD parameter provided by the ranging sensor 14 allow the host vehicle 10 to determine if the collision can be avoided by steering.” And para [0011] “This is achieved by using VS, LAT_ACC and the road coefficient of friction COF to calculate the turning radius R, computing the length of the curved travel path required to negotiate the lateral offset distance LOD, and using the computed travel path length and the range-rate parameter RR to compute the time-to-turn TTT.” This would have been obvious to try as there are only 4 different possible scenarios (Calculating the left time to turn, calculating the right time to turn, calculating neither, and calculating both). It should benoted that US 20220227420 A1 disclosed in applicant’s IDS teaches calculating both the and right and left turn times as well.
Weaver in view of Aoki and Official Notice does not teach
when there is said right space and there is no said left space, engaging collision mitigation braking after waiting for time to turn to elapse
when there is said left space and there is no said right space, engaging collision mitigation braking after waiting for time to turn to elapse
when there is neither said left space nor said right space, engaging collision mitigation braking without waiting
However Moshuchuk teaches when there is said right space and there is no said left space,
start automatic braking, when said obtained predicted time to collision becomes equal to or shorter than a shorter one of said steering start time threshold for a right turn and said automatic braking start time threshold;
{Para [0025] “If the time to collision is less than the third threshold Th3 at the decision diamond 56 then automatic steering may be provided. The algorithm determines whether the lane adjacent to the target vehicle 14 and the host vehicle 10 is available at decision diamond 58 in preparation to provide automatic steering. If the adjacent lane is not available at the decision diamond 58, then the algorithm provides a hard autonomous collision mitigation braking at box 60, and exits the algorithm at the box 48 to return to the process of determining collision avoidance at the start box 42. If the lane is available at the decision diamond 58, then the vehicle driver is still able to provide a steering maneuver to avoid the collision until the time to collision reaches the fourth threshold Th4. At decision diamond 62, the algorithm determines whether the time to collision is less than the threshold Th4 meaning that the vehicle driver can still avoid the collision by steering, and if not, the algorithm exits at the box 48 and returns to the start box 42. If the lane is available at the decision diamond 58, and the time to collision is less than the fourth threshold Th4 at the decision diamond 62, then the algorithm again determines whether the lane is available at decision diamond 64, and if not, provides the full autonomous collision mitigation braking at the box 60. If the lane is available at the decision diamond 64, then the algorithm causes the ECA system to perform both automatic combined steering and braking at box 66 to avoid the collision.”
Where the lanes adjacent to the vehicle (implied right or left) are being checked if they are clear and the vehicle is only moving into it if it is clear.
}
when there is said left space and there is no said right space,
start automatic braking, when said obtained predicted time to collision becomes equal to or shorter than a shorter one of said steering start time threshold for a left turn and said automatic braking start time threshold; and
{Para [0025] “If the time to collision is less than the third threshold Th3 at the decision diamond 56 then automatic steering may be provided. The algorithm determines whether the lane adjacent to the target vehicle 14 and the host vehicle 10 is available at decision diamond 58 in preparation to provide automatic steering. If the adjacent lane is not available at the decision diamond 58, then the algorithm provides a hard autonomous collision mitigation braking at box 60, and exits the algorithm at the box 48 to return to the process of determining collision avoidance at the start box 42. If the lane is available at the decision diamond 58, then the vehicle driver is still able to provide a steering maneuver to avoid the collision until the time to collision reaches the fourth threshold Th4. At decision diamond 62, the algorithm determines whether the time to collision is less than the threshold Th4 meaning that the vehicle driver can still avoid the collision by steering, and if not, the algorithm exits at the box 48 and returns to the start box 42. If the lane is available at the decision diamond 58, and the time to collision is less than the fourth threshold Th4 at the decision diamond 62, then the algorithm again determines whether the lane is available at decision diamond 64, and if not, provides the full autonomous collision mitigation braking at the box 60. If the lane is available at the decision diamond 64, then the algorithm causes the ECA system to perform both automatic combined steering and braking at box 66 to avoid the collision.”
Where the lanes adjacent to the vehicle (implied right or left) are being checked if they are clear and the vehicle is only moving into it if it is clear.
}
when there is neither said left space nor said right space,
start automatic braking, when said obtained predicted time to collision becomes equal to or shorter than said automatic braking start time threshold.
{Para [0025] “If the time to collision is less than the third threshold Th3 at the decision diamond 56 then automatic steering may be provided. The algorithm determines whether the lane adjacent to the target vehicle 14 and the host vehicle 10 is available at decision diamond 58 in preparation to provide automatic steering. If the adjacent lane is not available at the decision diamond 58, then the algorithm provides a hard autonomous collision mitigation braking at box 60, and exits the algorithm at the box 48 to return to the process of determining collision avoidance at the start box 42. If the lane is available at the decision diamond 58, then the vehicle driver is still able to provide a steering maneuver to avoid the collision until the time to collision reaches the fourth threshold Th4. At decision diamond 62, the algorithm determines whether the time to collision is less than the threshold Th4 meaning that the vehicle driver can still avoid the collision by steering, and if not, the algorithm exits at the box 48 and returns to the start box 42. If the lane is available at the decision diamond 58, and the time to collision is less than the fourth threshold Th4 at the decision diamond 62, then the algorithm again determines whether the lane is available at decision diamond 64, and if not, provides the full autonomous collision mitigation braking at the box 60. If the lane is available at the decision diamond 64, then the algorithm causes the ECA system to perform both automatic combined steering and braking at box 66 to avoid the collision.”
}
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Weaver in view of Aoki to incorporate the teachings of Moshchuk to check adjacent lanes and only steer into a clear lane because it improves safety. (steering into a not clear lane can cause an accident.)
Regarding claim 7, it recites A method having limitations similar to those of claim 6 and therefore is rejected on the same basis.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Stanek et al. (US 20160207530 A1) teaches in the abstract “Data is collected from vehicle sensors to generate a virtual map of objects proximate to the vehicle. Based on the virtual map, an in-vehicle computer determines a traffic condition in front of and behind a host vehicle. The in-vehicle computer determines collision avoidance maneuvers. The computer instructs vehicle control units to implement the collision avoidance maneuvers. The computer may additionally or alternatively communicate the collision avoidance maneuvers to a driver via an interface. In the case of unavoidable collisions, the computer determines and initiates damage mitigation actions.”.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER MATTA whose telephone number is (571)272-4296. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 10:00-6:00.
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/A.G.M./Examiner, Art Unit 3668
/JAMES J LEE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3668
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